Marguerite will close early on September 13 th. The new musical was originally scheduled to run until November 1st.

Boublil and Schönberg have issued a statement:

“Despite high praise from audience members, critically acclaimed performances and the release of the much anticipated cast recording, we have made the difficult decision to close the show in London a few weeks earlier than originally planned. Both the knock on effect of the current economic climate, as well as disappointing ticket sales throughout the summer months have contributed to our decision to close early.”

They went on to express their gratitude to everyone from cast members to the loyal following the production has gained. the said they are very proud of what has been achieved.

Rehearsals for a Japanese production will start in January and the show will play the Akasaka ACT Theatre in Tokyo in February, followed by performances in Osaka. There are also plans for a Spanish production in 2009 and a French production in 2010.”

I am really sad about this. Marguerite was magnificent and Ruthie Henshall and the rest of the cast were stunning. I was really hoping it might find a new home in the West End after November but it just couldn’t survive the summer lull. What a shame!

I just like to send our commiserations and say Good Luck to all the cast and production team who worked so hard on Marguerite.

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Marguerite Theatre Breaks Offer

Marguerite the musical is part of the new Show and Stay free hotels in August deal. This means that from just £60 each you can book a weekday evening performance and get your first night’s hotel for the amazing price of – absolutely nothing!

Marguerite -dates and perfomances

The offer is for any weekday evening performance, including Fridays, between Friday August 1st and Friday September 5th

Monday – Friday 7:30 pm.

Hotels

The hotels in the offer are all 3* in various areas of central London. From as little as £10 each you can even upgrade to a 4* luxury hotel and really indulge yourselves! Goodness, I’m tempted by that thought and we live in London!

Book Marguerite now – this can’t last.

At these prices tickets will vanish fast so you really need to act quickly. London is great for impromptu breaks, so why not treat yourself?

** Marguerite free hotel offer **

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Free London Hotel Deals

The summer sale at Show and Stay continues with the craziest London hotel deals for August. They are actually giving away one night’s stay in a posh London hotel for absolutely nothing! I don’t know how they can do it, its just mad. The only snag is that you have to sit through an entire performance at one of the West End’s top musicals. Better choose wisely then!

The Deal

It’s your chance to spend a free night in a three star London hotel after a great night out, just by buying theatre tickets for a weekday (yes, that includes Friday nights) in August 2008 out of a range of eleven of the best West End musicals or two plays (see below). In fact the offer extends right up until Friday 5th of September so this could also be very interesting to those who live just close enough to London to get home after a night out, but would relish the opportunity to stay over and do something in London the next day. You could turn an enjoyable evening at the theatre into an unforgettable city break for as little as £42.50 per person. That price would be for two people seeing The 39 Steps and then sharing a double room at the Jury’s Inn Islington.

The Hotels

You can stay in a 3* hotel from amongst the prestigious list available at Show and Stay. Some of these are closer to Theatreland whilst others are in the popular South Kensington area – it’s up to you. Or you could upgrade to a luxurious Four Star Hotel for as little as ten pounds. What?!? Ten pounds is just ridiculous, I mean you probably couldn’t get a dingy bed and breakfast in drizzly Morecombe for that price! We’re talking about prestigious international style Hotels in central London, where the jet set business community stay over and celebrities hang out.

The shows

These are the popular shows included in the free london hotel offer, together with the total inclusive show and hotel deal price per person (including a £5 supplement for the first three shows listed)

• We Will Rock You – £60 Rock On! book
• The Sound of Music – £60 book
• Billy Elliot – £65 book
• Never Forget – £54.50 Take That! book
• Chicago – £52.50 book
• Spamalot – £55 Monty Python’s hit comedy musical book
• Blood Brothers – £50 book
• Female of the Species – £47.50 *comedy book
• Marguerite – £60 book *recommended classy new musical at the Haymarket
• The 39 Steps – £42.50 book
• Buddy – £55 Rave on book
• Zorro – £55 book *recommended for the fantastic flamenco music and special effects
• Stomp – £45 book

Click on any of the shows above for more information or here to transfer to the special page on the booking site. All you have to do to get the free London hotel deals is to keep within the 13 qualifying shows, choose a weekday before September 7th 2008 and then pick one of the first hotels that comes up, with the golden “offer hotel” badge. then start looking forward to your best ever summer theatre break in London. Have a good one.

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MARGUERITE – London cast recording

The Original London Cast Recording from Marguerite
Marguerite opened at the Theatre Royal Haymarket to ecstatic reviews on 20th May.
The story and conception is by the originators of Les Misérables, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg (with Jonathan Kent). Music is by Michel Legrand and lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer (the lyricist for Les Misérables).

Track Listing:

1. Come One, Come All
2. Let The World Turn
3. Jazz Time
4. China Doll
5. China Doll (Reprise)
6. The Face I See
7. Time Was When
8. The World Begins Today
9. Waiting
10. Day By Day (Part 1)
11. Intoxication
12. I Am Here
13. Take Good Care Of Yourself
14. Overture Act 2/Day By Day (Part 2)
15. Dreams, Shining Dreams
16. Take Good Care Of Yourself (Reprise)
17. I Hate The Very Thought Of Women
18. The Letter
19. What’s Left Of Love
20. Paris
21. Day By Day (Part 3)
22. How Did I Get To Where I Am
23. Day By Day (Part 4)
24. Come One, Come All (Reprise)
25. Finale
26. Paris Est Libéré

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Marguerite The Musical

Marguerite is an ideal choice if you are planning a theatre break in London and fancy something a bit more grown up than the usual fare. Tempted by some of the comments on the blog we went to see Marguerite, currently playing at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. I was hoping for a rather special treat and I wasn’t disappointed.

The Theatre Royal

The Theatre Royal, Haymarket is a gorgeous traditional theatre. As we reached the grand entrance and saw the stylish posters I began to feel quite excited. We’d allowed ourselves plenty of time to get there so were in no hurry. I treated myself to a programme and we made our way to the elegant downstairs bar. The bar was comfortably cool and surprisingly airy after the heat of the busy city. After a casual glance through the programme and a glass of my favourite dry sherry it was time to head for our seats.

As we waited for the start we spent our time people watching. It’s a very different crowd to the one you see at Wicked, that’s for sure! I think it really must be a musical for grown-ups. The audience was quiet and attentive, clapping and showing their appreciation. They seemed content to wait for the interval to eat and I didn’t see any giant buckets of popcorn, or any mobile phones.

Marguerite – The Show

Soon I was swept up in the romance of the story. Based on the Dumas novel La Dame aux Camélias it is a plot that has been used many times since, most recently by Baz Lurman in Moulin Rouge. Having said that, for Marguerite the action moves forward to wartime Paris and this adds some fresh twists and turns to the plot. Marguerite is the doomed heroine, Otto her German lover and Armand the young French muscian with whom she falls so devastatingly in love. Their love affair is echoed and contrasted with that of another pair of lovers, Annette, Armand’s sister and Lucien, her Jewish partner.

The Cast of Marguerite

Our star, of course, was Ruthie Henshall as Marguerite. She starts off as brittle and brilliant as the China Doll of the song and gradually shifts into someone much more human and sympathetic. Not an easy thing to do at all but I think she did it with panache.

Played by Julien Ovendon, Armand was everything you’d expect, rash, impetuous and obsessed. Idealistic about his love for Marguerite, he’d no time for her attempts to make him see the impossible situation and dangers they faced. His voice soared in their duets but I found it most moving when he sang What’s Left of Love? Hankies at the ready!

Alexander Hanson even made Otto almost sympathetic at times, as trapped in some ways as Marguerite, before eventually showing his darker more, ruthless side.I was a bit worried that the sight of stage Nazis might be a little too close to Springtime for Hitler, or worse yet ‘Allo Allo’! but it was skilfully avoided.
I though Annalene Beechey played Annette, Armand’s sister very convincingly and her voice was just a delight, so pure and clear, quite heart rending at times. Her voice blended so well with Simon Thomas, who played Lucien, and their duet ‘Take Good Care of Yourself ‘definitely brought tears to my eyes.

Then there’s Marguerite’s agent, Georges, a slippery character played wonderfully by Andrew C Wadsworth. In the second act Gay Soper as the Chanteuse sings a couple of songs, including one in French, in the chanteuse style which I particularly enjoyed.

The ensemble deserve a mention as their singing of some pretty complex stuff was brilliant. The song Day by Day changes gradually each time it is sung till by the end the meaning has totally shifted. Their acting was good too, portraying a group who always knew how to look after themselves.

The Music

Some people have said they didn’t enjoy the music but I loved it. The songs have filled my head for the last couple of days. I do have favourites, China Doll is so sad and pretty, Jazz Time (I’m a sucker for a bit of le jazz hot!) and I like Intoxication. This was sung as a trio by Marguerite, Otto and Armand and beautifully done I might add!

Back in London

By the end of the show I was emotionally wrung out and snivelling, along with many of the audience. We wandered into the night amazed to find it wasn’t even dark yet and we were in London not Paris, sadly! Still there was time for a stroll round the West End, soaking in the buzz, talking about our favourite bits. We ended up having a quiet drink in the pub opposite Jersey Boys and watching as the crowd came out, wandered off in search of supper or climbed into the waiting rickshaws. They looked as if they’d had just as entertaining an evening as we had and after a bit of discussion we decided there has to be room in the West End for both a ‘jukebox’ musical like Jersey Boys and more original productions like Marguerite. As I said at the start, Marguerite is an ideal choice for more sophisticated musical theatre in London’s West End.

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The new musical Marguerite premieres at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket on the 20 May 2008. The story is based on Alexandre Dumas’ novel La Dame aux Camelias, which has been re-worked to bring us everything from the opera La Traviatta to the film Moulin Rouge. Marguerite is set in Nazi occupied Paris, where as the mistress of a high-ranking German officer, she falls in love a young jazz musician and resistance fighter half her age.

The book is by Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schonberg and Jonathan Kent, The original French lyrics by Boublil, were re-written for this production by Herbert Kretzmer. Apparently some set changes were also made to avoid any “‘Ello, ‘Ello” echoes which might have put off a UK audience.

Marguerite stars Ruthie Henshall in the title role with, Julian Ovenden and Alexander Hanson. The production is booking at the Haymarket until 1 November 2008

The production has had a very mixed response in previews. Some people have absolutely loved it and found it a ‘very grown-up musical’, others found it a little lacklustre. Personally I definitely fancy seeing it.

Quotes from our readers:

Went to see this last night Monday 12th May and it was fantastic, the best thing I have seen in many months. The cast were brilliant, also the costumes and set. A thoroughly enjoyable performance in a beautiful theatre.

And:

I saw Marguerite last night and it was truly amazing. I particularly enjoyed Andrew C Wadsworth’s portrayal of Georges, Marguerite’s agent.

Update – Video Footage of Marguerite the Musical

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Two of our readers are very excited about Marguerite the musical
1. Louise on March 12th, commenting on my post about Marguerite said:

This is also starring the fantastic Andrew C Wadsworth.

And only a few minutes later Nora piped up:

I know I’m so excited I think he is amazing!

Personally I prefer Alexander Hanson, who is playing Otto but they are all good. There’s quite a buzz working up for this show. I hope it lives up to it!

Update:
I made a bit of a hash of the next bit of this post and mixed Andrew up with, er, someone totally different! He was in Peak Practice but just the one episode, and it wasn’t any of these

Click here to view the embedded video.

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** Book Marguerite theatre breaks **

Ruthie Henshall will star with Julien Ovendon in a brand new musical at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket from May 7th 2008. Marguerite the musical will be the World Premiere of a collaboration between Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg (Les Misérables, Miss Saigon and Martin Guerre) and the Oscar award-winning musical legend Michel Legrand and lyricist Herbert Kretzmer (Les Misérables).
A love story set in Paris during the Second World War, Marguerite is based on the great romantic novel, La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas. That’s right – the exact same story as Baz Lurmans’ film Moulin Rouge! This stage version though is set against the background of occupied war time Paris.

In this tense, dangerous atmosphere Marguerite,the beautiful and notorious mistress of a high ranking German officer, falls for Armand a young musician half her age. Armand’s obsessive love for Marguerite puts them both at risk.

** Book Marguerite theatre breaks **

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